Ground bounce generator in device under test, automatic test equipment, and method of testing with ground noise

ABSTRACT

A ground bounce generator includes a resistor and at least one switch coupled in parallel with the resistor. The ground bounce generator is in a device under test circuit including a source, at least one ground bounce generator, at least one device under test, and a ground. The device under test is coupled in series between the source and the ground bounce generator. The device under test and the ground bounce generator are coupled in series between the source and the ground.

BACKGROUND Field of Invention

The present invention relates to the ground bounce generator. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to the structure and themethod of the ground bounce generator for generating the ground noise.

Description of Related Art

An automatic test equipment (ATE) is generally used in the devicedevelopment to test the performance of the device, for example, adynamic random accesory memory (DRAM). A platform is a component of theATE, and a device under test (DUT) is designed on the platform forplacement of the testing device. The purpose of the ATE is to simulate areal application environment for the testing device and screen out thecases of disqualification.

SUMMARY

The invention provides a ground bounce generator including a resistorand at least one switch coupled in parallel with the resistor. Theground bounce generator is in a device under test circuit including asource, at least one ground bounce generator, at least one device undertest, and a ground. The device under test is coupled in series betweenthe source and the ground bounce generator. The device under test andthe ground bounce generator are coupled in series between the source andthe ground.

The invention also provides an automatic test equipment, which includesa devices under test and at least one ground bounce generator. Thedevice under test includes a printed circuit board in which the groundbounce generator is arranged and a socket on the printed circuit boardthat is connected to the printed circuit board.

The invention also provides a method of testing a testing device with aground noise. The method includes coupling a device under test in seriesbetween a source and a ground, coupling a ground bounce generator inseries between the device under test and the ground, coupling a testingdevice to the device under test, providing a current by the sourcethrough the device under test and the ground bounce generator,controlling the ground bounce generator to generate the ground noise,and collecting a performance result of the testing device.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are by examples, and are intended toprovide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the followingdetailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to theaccompanying drawings as follows:

FIG. 1A is a schematic block view of an automatic test equipment with aplurality of device under tests according to some embodiments;

FIG. 1B is a schematic block view of a device under test in an automatictest equipment according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a circuit including a device under testand a ground bounce generator according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3B are line graphs of time dependent voltage V_(A) and V_(DUT),respectively, in the circuit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a line graph of a time dependent voltage V_(B) in the circuitwhich a ground bounce generator is not working according to someembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a circuit including more than onedevice under test and one ground bounce generator according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a circuit including one device undertest and more than one ground bounce generator according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a line graph of a time dependent voltage V_(C) in the circuitof FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a circuit including a device under testand a ground bounce generator according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in thedrawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic block view of an automatice testequipment (ATE) in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 1A, an ATE 120 may include a platform 110which is designed as a part of a jig. A plurality of device under tests(DUT) 100 may be arranged in the platform 110 for the placement oftesting devices, for example, dynamic random accesory memories (DRAM).The number and the arrangement of the DUT 100 may be any suitable designto meet the purpose of device quality test, and those modifications arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a schematic block view of a DUT 100 related to FIG.1A in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. InFIG. 1B, the DUT 100 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 102 and asocket 104 on the PCB 102. The PCB 102 may be designed to containcircuits for different purposes which include power supply, datatransmission, or the like. As shown in FIG. 1B, the PCB 102 may beconnected to lines such as an address input 122, a control input 124, ora data input/output 126 in the ATE 120. Therefore, additional testercomponents may be added in the PCB 102, such as the following descriptedground bounce generator of the present disclosure. The socket 104 may beconnected to the PCB 102, which becomes the connector between the PCB102 and the testing device 106. When a current is provided to the DUT100, the ATE 120 works to simulate an application environment andcollects a performance result of the testing device 106 by a processor130 connecting to the DUT 100. As designed as the above mentioned, theATE 120 is able to perform various tests on the testing device 106 bythe PCB 102 and the socket 104 of the DUT 100 and examine the productquality. In some embodiments, there may be other layers or devicesincluded in the DUT 100 or the ATE 120, and those modifications arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

The purpose of an ATE is to simulate an application environment close tothe real life. For example, a ground noise exists in real application ofdevices, and a commercial device should have resistance to the groundnoise. In other words, an ATE with the ability to generate the groundnoise to the DUT is preferable for the device performance test.Therefore, a ground bounce generator is disclosed herein to generateartificial and controllable ground noise which occurs in the real life.FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a circuit including a DUT anda ground bounce generator in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the illustrated DUT is a DUT 200which is similar to the DUT 100 of FIGS. 1A-1B. However, the DUTincluded in the circuit of FIG. 2 and the other circuits mentioned inthe following description may be the DUT 200 or any other suitable DUT.The DUT 200 may be coupled in serious between a source VDD and a groundG. The source VDD and the ground G may provide power to the DUT 200 tosimulate a working condition for testing devices. In addition, the DUT200 may be connected to other lines including, but not limited to,address input 222, control input 224, and data input/output 226 similarto those in FIG. 1B to provide signals for device performance test in anATE. In some embodiments, there may be other lines or devices connectedto the DUT 200, and those modifications are within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

A ground bounce generator 300 may be coupled in series between the DUT200 and the ground G to generate ground noise to the DUT 200. Referringto FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the ground bounce generator300 may be added into the PCB 102 of the DUT 100 and thus coupled inseries with the socket 104. However, for clearity of discussion, theground bounce generator 300 is illustrated as a component separated fromthe DUT 200 in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the ground bounce generator300 may be positioned at different places in an ATE, and thosemodifications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the ground bounce generator 300 may include aresistor R and a switch 302 coupling in parallel. In some embodiments,the switch 302 may have a relay controlled by the ATE. The switch 302may be controlled by other ways or elements of the ATE, and thosemodifications are within the scope of the present disclosure. When theswitch 302 is turned “on” and forms a closed circuit on the switch 302,the current from the source VDD passes through the DUT 200 and theswitch 302. As a result, the DUT 200 is directly connected to the groundG and the voltage from the source VDD may be mainly provided to the DUT200. In this case, the ground noise may be regarded as the smallestduring the operation of the ATE. When the switch 302 is turned “off” andthe switch 302 forms an open circuit, the current from the source VDDpasses through the DUT 200 and the resistor R, which generates a voltagedrop across the resistor R. Therefore, the voltage from the source VDDmay be shared by the DUT 200 and the resistor R. The voltage drop may beconsidered as the largest ground noise provided to the DUT 200 by theground bounce generator 300. The ATE having the ground bounce generator300 may be able to generate a group of artificial ground noises whilerepeating turning the switch 302 on and off.

In one embodiment, for example, the source VDD totally provides 1.2 V,and the current through the DUT 200 is 300 mA. When the switch 302 isturned on, the voltage on the DUT 200 is 1.2 V, and the voltage at pointA is 0 V in the circuit of FIG. 2. When the switch 302 is turned off, avoltage drop occurs across the resistor R. As the resistor R is 1 Ω, thevoltage at point A equals to 0.3 V according to Ohm's law, and thevoltage on the DUT 200 correspondly decreases to 0.9 V. According to theabove embodiment, the ATE may repeat turning on and off the switch 302and generate a ground noise with a maximum amplitude of 0.3 V to the DUT200. The values in the above mentioned embodiment are only exemplary,and they may be any suitable values for device performance tests.

The ground noise may be illustrated as a line graph for clearerdiscussion. FIG. 3A illustrates a time dependent voltage V_(A) at pointA in the circuit of FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A, the riseand the drop of voltage V_(A) respectively correspond to the off and onof the switch 302, which lead to the peaks shown in FIG. 3A. The maximumamplitude of the peaks is regarded as an amplitude H. The amplitude H ofthe peaks may be determined by the resistor R. If the resistor R islarger, the amplitude H (or the voltage drop across the resistor R) alsobecomes larger. In some embodiments, the resistor R may be selected togenerate the amplitude H larger than 50 mV so that the ground noise isnot neglected. In some embodiments, the resistor R may be selected togenerate the amplitude H larger than 300 mV since the real ground noiseis generally larger than 300 mV. In some embodiments, the resistor R maybe selected to generate the amplitude H with 10% to 30% of the voltageprovided by the source VDD. The amplitude H smaller than 10% of thevoltage of the source VDD may be too small to simulate the real groundnoise, while the amplitude H larger than 30% of the voltage of thesource VDD may affect the testing devices much more seriously than thereal application. In some embodiments, the ratio of the amplitude H tothe voltage provided to the DUT may include other values, and thosemodifications are within the scope of the present disclosure. Inaddition, the retention time of the peaks is regarded as a period T. Theperiod T is determined by the switch 302 controlled by the ATE. In someembodiments, the period T may remain the same during the operation ofthe ATE, which indicates that the ground noise frequency generated byground bounce generator is consistent and regular. In some otherembodiments, the period T may vary during the operation of ATE, as shownas a period T1 and a period T2 in FIG. 3A, which leads to the irregularground noise frequency.

FIG. 3B illustrates a time dependent voltage V_(DUT) on the DUT 200 inthe circuit of FIG. 2. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B, the voltageV_(A) in FIG. 3A may lead to corresponding changes of the voltageV_(DUT) in FIG. 3B. When the voltage V_(A) increases, the voltageV_(DUT) correspondly decreases, and vice versa. In some embodimentswhich the voltage provided by the source VDD is not consumed by othercomponents, the sum of the voltage V_(A) and the voltage V_(DUT) equalsto the voltage of the source VDD. In some other embodiments, theamplitude H of the voltage V_(A) equals to the drop of the voltageV_(DUT). As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the amplitude of the voltageV_(DUT) varies between an amplitude V_(max) and an amplitude V_(min),and the sum of the amplitude V_(min) and the amplitude H in FIG. 3Aequals to the amplitude V_(max). The retention times of the peaks of thevoltage V_(DUT) also correspond to those of the voltage V_(A), as shownas the period T1 and T2.

Generally, the source VDD and the groung G in an ATE serve as a powersupplier, which indicates that the ground noise is not provided or issmall enough to be neglected between the source VDD and the ground G.FIG. 4 illustrates the time dependent voltage V_(B) at point A in thecircuit similar to that of FIG. 2, without introducing the ground bouncegenerator 300. As shown in FIG. 4, voltage V_(B) is nearly zero duringthe operation of the ATE. In some embodiments, a ground noise smallerthan 50 mV may be neglected. As a result, no ground noise is provided tothe DUT 200, and the ATE fails to simulate a real applicationenvironment for testing devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a circuit similar to FIG. 2,except the circuit includes more than one DUT 200 and one ground bouncegenerator 300 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, more than one DUT 200 may be coupled inparallel and collectively coupled in series with the ground bouncegenerator 300. As such, the ground noise generated by the ground bouncegenerator 300 is delivered to all DUTs 200 under this arrangement. TwoDUTs 200 are illustrated in FIG. 5, however, a circuit including othernumbers of DUTs is within the scope of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A, the ground bounce generator 300 in thecircuit may provide the symmetric waveforms of the artificial groundnoise. To simulate the ground noise closer to the real application, aplurality of ground bounce generators may be included in a circuit andgenerate asymmetric waveforms of the ground noise. FIG. 6 illustrates aschematic diagram of a circuit similar to the circuit of FIG. 2, exceptthe circuit of FIG. 6 includes one DUT 200 and more than one groundbounce generators in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. More than one ground bounce generators may be coupled inparallel and collectively coupled in series with DUT 200. Two groundbounce generators 300 and 300′ are illustrated in FIG. 6, however, acircuit including other number of ground bounce generators is within thescope of the present disclosure. Two ground bounce generators 300 and300′ may be the same or different ground bounce generators. In someembodiments, the ground noise generated by the ground bounce generators300 and 300′ may be different from each other. For example, theamplitude or the frequency of the ground noise from the ground bouncegenerators 300 and 300′ may not be the same, which leads to theirregular ground noise provided to the DUT 200. FIG. 7 illustrates atime dependent voltage V_(C) at point C in the circuit of FIG. 6 whichthe amplitude and the frequency of the ground noise from the groundbounce generators 300 and 300′ are different. Since the amplitude andthe frequency are different, the combination of the ground noise maygenerate the asymmetric and irregular peaks.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of a circuit similar to FIG. 2,except the circuit of FIG. 8 includes a DUT 200 and a ground bouncegenerator 800 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The ground bounce generator 800 is similar to the groundbounce generator 300, except the ground bounce generator 800 may includemore than one switch. As shown in FIG. 8, the ground bounce generator800 includes two switches, 302 and 304. It should be noted that a groundbounce generator including other number of switches is within the scopeof the present disclosure. The switches 302 and 304 may be the same typeof the switch in some embodiments and may be different in otherembodiments. Furthermore, the switches 302 and 304 may be controlled bythe same or different systems in one ATE. With more than one switch in aground bounce generator, the ATE is able to provide more variety ofperformance tests. In some embodiments, the ground bounce generator 800may be used in other circuits such as those illustrated in FIG. 5 andFIG. 6. For example, at least one of the ground bounce generator in FIG.6 may be the ground bounce generator 800.

With at least one ground bounce generator in an ATE as mentioned above,the ATE is able to test a testing device with a ground noise. After thetesting device is coupled to the device under test in the ATE, thecurrent and the voltage is provided through the device under test andthe ground bounce generator. While the ground bounce generator iscontrolled by turning on and off, a group of artificial ground noises isgenerated that affects the device under test, which further affects thelines connected to the device under test, for example, the addressinput, the control input, or the data input/output. A performance resultof the testing device which closer reflects application in real life isthen collected by the processor of the ATE.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments arepossible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims shouldnot be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A device under test circuit, comprising: a source; at least oneground bounce generator, wherein each ground bounce generator comprises:a resistor; and at least one switch coupled in parallel with theresistor; at least one device under test, wherein the device under testis coupled in series between the source and the ground bounce generator;and a ground, wherein the device under test and the ground bouncegenerator are coupled in series between the source and the ground. 2.The device under test circuit of claim 1, further comprising: an addressinput; a control input; and a data input/output, wherein the addressinput, the control input, and the data input/out are connected to thedevice under test.
 3. The device under test circuit of claim 1, whereinthe switch comprises a relay.
 4. The device under test circuit of claim1, wherein the at least one ground bounce generator is plural, and theground bounce generators are coupled in parallel and collectivelycoupled in series with the device under test.
 5. The device under testcircuit of claim 1, wherein the at least one device under test isplural, and the device under tests are coupled in parallel andcollectively coupled in series with the ground bounce generator.
 6. Anautomatic test equipment, comprising: a device under test comprising: aprinted circuit board; and a socket on the printed circuit board,wherein the socket is connected to the printed circuit board; and atleast one ground bounce generator on the printed circuit board of thedevice under test, wherein the socket of the device under tests iscoupled in series with the ground bounce generator, and wherein theground bounce generator comprises a resistor and at least one switchcoupled in parallel with the resistor; and a processor connecting to thedevice under test.
 7. The automatic test equipment of claim 6, furthercomprising: an address input; a control input; and a data input/output,wherein the address input, the control input, and the data input/out areconnected to the device under test.
 8. The automatic test equipment ofclaim 6, wherein the ground bounce generator comprises a switch, and theswitch comprises a relay.
 9. A method of testing a testing device with aground noise, comprising: coupling a device under test in series betweena source and a ground in an automatic test equipment; coupling a groundbounce generator in series between the device under test and the ground;coupling the testing device to the device under test; providing acurrent by the source through the device under test and the groundbounce generator; controlling the ground bounce generator to generatethe ground noise; and collecting a performance result of the testingdevice in the automatic test equipment.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein controlling the ground bounce generator further comprising:forming a closed circuit on a switch in the ground bounce generator tominimize the ground noise; forming an open circuit on the switch in theground bounce generator to maximize the ground noise; and repeatingforming the closed circuit and the open circuit on the switch in theground bounce generator to generate the ground noise.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein controlling the ground bounce generator comprisesgenerating a voltage drop across a resistor in the ground bouncegenerator.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the voltage drop equalsto an amplitude of the ground noise.
 13. The method of claim 9, whereinan amplitude of the ground noise is determined by a resistor in theground bounce generator.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein an amplitudeof the ground noise is between 10% to 30% of a voltage of the source.15. The method of claim 9, wherein an amplitude of the ground noise islarger than 300 mV.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the ground noisecomprises symmetric or asymmetric waveforms.
 17. The method of claim 9,wherein the ground noise comprises regular or irregular waveforms. 18.The method of claim 9, wherein the testing device comprises a dynamicrandom accesory memory.
 19. The method of claim 9, wherein the groundnoise affects an address input, a control input, or a data input/outputcoupled to the device under test.